Truly Agreed, 2015

115.291. 1. Upon receiving an absentee ballot in person
or by mail, the voter shall mark the ballot in secret, place
the ballot in the ballot envelope, seal the envelope and fill
out the statement on the ballot envelope. The affidavit of each
person voting an absentee ballot shall be subscribed and sworn
to before the election official receiving the ballot, a notary
public or other officer authorized by law to administer oaths,
unless the voter is voting absentee due to incapacity or confinement
due to the provisions of section 115.284 illness or physical
disability, or the voter is a covered voter as defined in section
115.902. If the voter is blind, unable to read or write the English
language, or physically incapable of voting the ballot, the voter
may be assisted by a person of the voter's own choosing. Any
person assisting a voter who is not entitled to such assistance,
and any person who assists a voter and in any manner coerces
or initiates a request or a suggestion that the voter vote for
or against or refrain from voting on any question, ticket or
candidate, shall be guilty of a class one election offense. If,
upon counting, challenge or election contest, it is ascertained
that any absentee ballot was voted with unlawful assistance,
the ballot shall be rejected. 2.
Except as provided in subsection 4 of this section, each absentee
ballot shall be returned to the election authority in the ballot
envelope and shall only be returned by the voter in person, or
in person by a relative of the voter who is within the second
degree of consanguinity or affinity, by mail or registered carrier
or by a team of deputy election authorities; except that [persons
in federal service]covered voters, when sent from
a location determined by the secretary of state to be inaccessible
on election day, shall be allowed to return their absentee ballots
cast by use of facsimile transmission or under a program approved
by the Department of Defense for electronic transmission of election
materials. 3. In cases of an
emergency declared by the President of the United States or the
governor of this state where the conduct of an election may be
affected, the secretary of state may provide for the delivery
and return of absentee ballots by use of a facsimile transmission
device or system. Any rule promulgated pursuant to this subsection
shall apply to a class or classes of voters as provided for by
the secretary of state. 4.
No election authority shall refuse to accept and process any
otherwise valid marked absentee ballot submitted in any manner
by a covered voter solely on the basis of restrictions on envelope
type.